Shin Megami Tensei: Persona: The Internet is Alive
by Leukos
Summary: Time never waits. It delivers us all equally. This is a story about The Shadows in America, and the kids who try to stop them. WARNINGS: Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Het, Yaoi, Yuri Beta reader greatly appreciated!
1. Prologue

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona: The Internet is Alive

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona: The Internet is Alive

Disclaimer: I do not own Atlus, The Shin Megami franchise, Persona, Igor, or any of the themes inherit in those games. All original characters are mine .

Warnings: This is a mature story, there will be blood, cursing, nudity, as well as romance, both het and yaoi, and maybe even yuri depending on where the story goes.

Time never waits. It delivers us all equally. To those who want to hold on to life, however fleeting it may be, you will be given one year. Go forth, and remember that your fate ultimately is inevitable.

Prologue: A New Day

September 2nd, 2011

…

…………….

………………………….

"We're almost there."

"Shh… he may still be asleep."

"Well, I hope not, how can he sleep at a time like this?"

Leukos Noek opened his eyes slowly at the sound of his parents chattering away. His vision slowly came back into focus, and he was greeted by the sights of a new town.

"See? He is awake." His mother said.

"Well of course he woke up…"

Leukos continued to eye the quaint town. It wasn't particularly fascinating, but it definitely had its good qualities. The town is a low population town in the east coast of the United States. It has a high school, and is pretty close to everything important. The people all seemed friendly, but Leukos couldn't help but feel wary as a group of "tough" kids passed by on the streets. His parents' car hummed along the little road, and he felt a nice feeling of peace. He started to close his eyes before they caught a glimpse of a dangerous looking guy slinking around an alley. He blinked once, and he disappeared.

"Welcome to Safaris Park! What do you think?" his mother, Helena asked him, smiling.

"Umm… great…" Leu said sleepily.

"Are you excited?"

"Mmm… yeah…"

"What's wrong? Aren't you happy? We're moving again! This makes it our fifth move!"

"Yeah… great…" Leukos said before trying to nod off again, he was having such a nice dream…

Leukos was walking down a misty road. He felt it should be strange that he isn't concerned about this. Quite the opposite, he was completely at ease. He didn't really feel the need to do much more than walk. A while down the path, he was greeting by a door standing in the middle of the road, preceded by a strange looking fog. He could see the door through the fog, but something felt strange about it. For some reason though, he knew that he had to reach that door, no matter what was in the way. He bravely walked through, and felt an odd sensation run through his body as the fog passed him. He made it to the other side however, and entered through the strange door.

…

…….

…………..

"Welcome to the Velvet Room my dear young man."

Leukos looked around to find himself sitting in what appeared to be a fortune teller's room. His gaze swept the dark blue and purple colored room to find an old man with a long nose sitting right across a table from him, with a nice looking young man to his left.

"My name is Igor," the old man said politely, "And this is the Velvet Room."

"The what?" Leukos responded, still in a bit of a daze.

"This is a very special room indeed. It hasn't been too long since our last guest. I am so very pleased to have another one so soon." Igor said, still very politely.

"What do you mean guest?"

"Ah, allow me to explain. You are about to come across a great power, but as a cost of this power, a great trial will also befall you. I hope that you will come visit us again, after you awaken."

"Awaken?"

"I am afraid our time runs short, I must leave you now, but please keep this, so that we can meet again," Igor raised a hand and a small, purple key appeared above Leukos, dropping gently into his own hand, "Until we meet again."

…

…………

……………………….

"Leu? Don't tell me you fell asleep again…" Helena's voice invaded Leu's mind again, forcing him to wake up once more, "Honestly, do you get enough sleep?"

"Huh?" Leu responded dully.

"Come on, we're here!"

Leukos exited the car and looked up at the house in front of him. He blinked a few times and decided to enter his new house, all while trying to shake that strange dream out of his thoughts.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: So, here is the start of the journey, support is much appreciated, as well as a beta reader… not that I'm demanding one but…

Disclaimer: I do not own Atlus, or any of its game series, Shin Megami, Persona, Igor, or any other related themes. All original characters are mine.

Warning: Contains harsh language, blood, suggestive themes, het, yaoi, maybe yuri.

Chapter 1: Awakening

The house wasn't very large, but since the last house the family had was practically an attic, Leu felt slightly overwhelmed at the amount of space.

"It's huge, isn't it?" His step dad, Paul said, "Your room is upstairs. The Internet should be hooked up by now, so you can go on if you want. Just unpack your stuff first, ok?"

"Yeah, ok Dad," Leukos said, smiling a little.

He climbed the stairs and entered his room. He smiled, as it was about as large as his old house, and it was all his. He heard footsteps as Helena came upstairs to see.

"What do you think? Pretty cool huh?" she said, almost more excited than him, "It's all for you, now here is your bed, over there's the closet…"

She went on explaining the furniture of his room, but Leu felt oddly distracted. He sat down at his desk, vaguely aware that she started talking about it with considerable enthusiasm.

"Um, Mom?" Leu said to her, "Could you please go for now, I'm kinda tired, and I want some time to rest, ok?"

"Ok, Ok… I'll let you rest, just come down for dinner when it's ready, ok?" She said, leaving.

"Ok Mom, I will." Leu called to her as she descended. He went downstairs and to the car. He quickly pulled out his backpack from the rest of the luggage and opened it, retrieving his laptop from its depths. He moved back into the house and his mother noticed him.

"I thought you were resting." She said with a smile.

"Well I, uh…" Leu trailed off.

"If you wanted to play around, you could have just said so, it's OK." She smiled some more and went into the living room. Leu sighed and ran upstairs to his room. He plugged his laptop in and turned the power on. Sighing, he waited for it to load. He opened his Internet browser and noticed that he wasn't connected. He reasoned that it was probably because they had to set up a new connection, and he clicked on the Internet side button. A screen popped up and showed two possible connections. Noek Family, which was their Internet, and something strange.

"BTEIC72?"

The strangely named connection was obviously available and unsecured, he noticed that his own connection was temporarily disabled.

"Leu!" Paul's voice called from below, "Our Internet is down for a bit, sorry…"

"It's OK Dad!" Leu called back. He decided that whoever had this connection was obviously letting him connect as well, so he hit the connect button.

Leu slowly opened his eyes to find himself standing in what seemed to be a room. There was nothing really in it, nothing on the walls, and only two doors.

"What the fuck?" Leu said, his voice quivering with fear and surprise, "Mom? Dad? Hello? WHERE THE FUCK AM I?! I…"

He looked around to find nothing in the room at all. He decided that the best way to get out was to go through a door, but which one? He looked at one, than the other, and he turned and opened the blue door and walked through. He was greeted by an open plain. There was a low fog that didn't go past his knees that was rolling over the ground. He wandered around for a little while before he saw what seemed to be a young girl running around.

"Hey! Hello?" Leu called out to her, but the ground sprung up and a strange building was formed. The girl quickly ran in to the structure, and Leu went after her, trying to get her attention.

"Hello?" He said again, now in a dark room.

"Be careful." A voice near him said, "They're here…"

"What?" He replied.

"Shadows…"

Leu heard a disgusting squelch and saw two dark masses form up from the ground. Masks were formed on each of them and they let out a low hiss.

"Please, run! They'll kill us!" The girl leaped out in front of Leu as the shadow swung a dark arm at him. With a small shriek, she fell to the ground, hurt. The shadow advanced on him, and he felt his head start to throb.

_This has to be a dream… please, wake up…_

**You can't escape fate, **A strange voice resounded in his head, **Now, it begins, go forward, and accept your destiny.**

Leu winced again and looked up slowly. His head throbbed again and he felt a strange surge resound inside him. His eyes widened as something started to materialize in front of him. A mask, like those portrayed in theatres. He smiled just a little.

"Persona." He whispered just before reaching his hand out and crushing the mask. The power swelled and formed a humanoid figure, dressed in a light robe.

"Thou art I, and I am thou. I am Apollo, God of Music." The figure said in an overwhelming voice. The shadows hissed and lunged at him, but Apollo simply raised a hand, which caused a bolt of electricity to descend on the shadow, killing it. The second one advanced and struck Leu in his side. He grunted, but recovered quickly and delivered a quick kick right at the mask. The monster recoiled and Apollo casted another bolt of lightning, killing this one as well.

"Th-that power…" the girl said, slowly getting up, "What is it? Was that…"

"What?" Leu said faintly as Apollo disappeared.

"Nothing, um… thanks for saving me…" The girl said.

"Uh… no problem…" Leu said, still feeling pretty dizzy.

"Oh, by the way, I'm Neira Irzaii, nice to meet you um…" The girl extended her hand.

"Leukos Noek." Leu said, shaking her hand lightly.

"Well, let's get out of here, right?" Neira said cheerfully as she headed towards to the exit, "Come on, you don't want to stay here much longer, do you?"

Leu nodded and headed out. He looked around the misted plain and grimaced slightly when he remembered he had no idea how to get out.

"Um, Neira?" He said, concern soaking his voice, "Um, how do we get out of here?"

"Didn't you see the other door? That's the exit, wait… is this your first time here?" She responded.

"Yeah, why?" He said, a little nervous.

"How did you get that power so easily then?" She said, a little shocked, "And do you even know where you are?"

"No I don't, could you please tell me? I was just trying to get online and now all these crazy things happened and I don't even know how or why or where I am or what happened to my parents or anything!" Leu said frantically.

"Whoa whoa! Calm down," Neira said, obviously overwhelmed, "Let's get one thing clear though, you got online alright…"

"What?"

"Well, as far as I understand it, this world is filled with creatures called Shadows. And the only way to get into this world is by connecting to BTEIC72. I'm not exactly sure how it does what it does, but you get sent here." Neira explained.

"What?" Leu said, having some serious trouble believing this story, "Um… how?"

"I told you, I don't know… but there is one problem that my friends and I noticed."

"What?"

"These Shadows somehow are attacking people."

"What?"

"Could you stop saying what? all the time? You sound stupid. Just shut up and listen, ok?" Neira said with a hint of annoyance in her voice, "I don't know how they do it, but there have been a lot of unexplained deaths here. What's even stranger though, is that some who get attacked don't die, but they act like, brain dead or something… The media are calling it Apathy Syndrome."

Leukos watched her intently, "One question. Your friends?"

"Oh that's right! My friends!" Neira said, her serious expression suddenly shifting to a cheerful smile, "You have to meet them. But not now. Um… Get back here tomorrow, I'll introduce you to them. They all have the same power that you do."

"You mean what I did back there?" Leu said, "What was that?"

"Ask them tomorrow," Neira said with a smile, "They know better than me, well, I'm going, see ya!"

And with that Neira ran back to the door and leaving. Leu sighed and took one more look around before heading back himself.

End of Chapter.

A/N OK, from this chapter on I will be giving out the character stats at the end of the chapter. Why? Because I have nothing better to do, OK?

Leukos, Level 2

Equip: Shin Blocker, Simple Hoodie, Tennis Shoes, String Bracelet

True Persona: Apollo

Skills: Zio, Dia

St: 2, Ma: 4, En: 2, Ag: 4, Lu: 2


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: This next one will finally start the school part of this story, as well as go into the intro of the first dungeon inside BTEIC72, hope you enjoy

A/N: This next one will finally start the school part of this story, as well as go into the intro of the first dungeon inside BTEIC72, hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not Atlus, Shin Megami, Persona, The Velvet Room, Igor, Shadows, or any related topic. All original characters are mine.

Warnings: Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Het, Yaoi, Yuri.

Chapter 2: The Battle Begins

Leukos opened his eyes and looked around his room. He returned safely, although it was considerably later in the night. He felt too tired to do much of anything else, so he simply got in bed and fell asleep.

…

……………

……………………………….

"I see you have awoken to your power." Igor's voice made Leu's eyes open suddenly, showing him that he was back in the Velvet Room, "And quite an unusual power it is. I have seen this power, but the Persona that has awakened to you seems very unique. In truth, I have never seen anyone with this kind of persona enter the Velvet Room before."

"Persona?" Leukos said, still in a bit of a daze, "You mean the power that I used earlier today?"

"Yes," Igor said, "But it is quite unique, your power. I have had guests with the power of the wild card before, but Apollo seems to be bound to you."

"Bound to me?" Leu asked, completely lost, "What do you mean?"

"You will understand soon. I believe that I will let you go back to your own world, but please come and visit me on your own. Until we meet again."

September 3rd, 2008

Leu winced as the piercing tone of his alarm clock He groaned and hit the off button before slowly pulling his limp body off the mattress. He looked at the time and decided that he would check his email before going down to breakfast. After he read the few messages he walked downstairs and was greeted by his mother.

"Good morning!" She said in a particularly loud voice, "You were tired huh? I found you asleep at your computer, even after we screamed at you to come down for dinner."

"Oh, uh… sorry, I guess that move was pretty taxing on me…" Leu said, sleepily heading to the bathroom to shower.

"Oh, well, just don't be late for school, alright?" Helena said before going over to the computer to continue her online job. After he showered and ate breakfast, he packed up his bag and left for school

Morning

Leu walked up the stairs and entered the main doors. He walked up to the front desk and talked to the receptionist.

"Oh, you're the new student, Leukos um… Noek?" she said nicely.

"Yes." He responded politely.

"Ok then, here is your schedule. Your homeroom teacher is… Ms. Risanda."

Lunchtime

Leu sat in the cafeteria eating what could barely pass for a sandwich when a dark haired teen sat next to him.

"Want a Starburst?" He said to Leu, holding out the candy.

"What?" Leu said, obviously perplexed at the random offering.

"Do you want one? I have too many." The kid said, "It's not poisoned or anything you know…"

"Oh uh… alright then." Leu said, accepting the small gift, "Who are you by the way?"

"Mike, you?"

"Leukos, hi." He said with a small smile.

"So, you're the new kid around here, right?" he started off, "I moved here last year, so these kids still kinda avoid me, not like I care though…"

"At it again with your sob-story?" A girl's voice called out from afar, "I swear, you make it sound like you have the Plague or something."

A slightly geeky looking teen walked over and sat next to Mike.

"It's not that at all." Mike said to his defense.

"Of course." The girl said before looking over at Leu, "Hi, I'm Anne, nice to meetcha."

Leu nodded and smiled, "Nice to meet you too."

"Well, welcome to Hell School, huh?" she said, cynicism oozing in her voice, "Well, it can't be that bad, right?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Leu said.

The conversation between the three continued through lunch and soon the bell rang, signifying the next period.

After School

"Finally!" Leu said, picking his things up and putting them away. Class really wasn't that great, since school just started, so Leu found himself pretty bored. He said goodbye to his new acquaintances and went home. After greeting his parents, he quickly lied and told them he was too tired to do much after school and he wanted to rest more.

"Ok, but dinner is in a few hours, be sure to come down for it, ok?" Paul said before going off to his laptop in the sun room.

"Ok dad!" Leu said, running up the stairs.

Leukos walked into the barren room and saw the girl from before, Neira.

"Hey!" he said, smiling. His smile soon faded when he noticed a look of worry spread across her face, "What's wrong?"

"My friends… they… ah…." Neira said, trembling slightly.

"What?" Leukos said, his worry growing, "What happened?"

"Well, you know that place that we went into yesterday?" Neira said, still worried, "They all decided to investigate, but they haven't come back, and they went in last night…"

Leukos nodded, concern growing in him. He looked at the door ahead of him and started to go through.

"Wait! Where do you think you're going?" Neira said.

"Where else?" Leu replied, opening the door.

"I'm coming too!" Neira said with determination, "I'm not the same as I was yesterday, I can do it… I mean I have my power now, so please…"

"…Alright, let's go." Leukos said. They two then entered the vast plains and saw that building, still standing there. Neira was holding a staff in her hands now.

"When did you get that?" Leu asked, eyeing the piece of wood suspiciously.

"Um.. I found it… in there…" Neira trailed off in the end.

"In there?" Leu asked, unaware of what she meant.

"Let's just go! Ok?" Neira said, obviously wanting to change the topic. Leu nodded and they departed to the building once again.

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: so, things are heating up, huh? Well, I hope everyone's enjoying the story here, ok?

Leukos Noek, Fool

True Persona: Apollo, Level 2

St: 2, Ma: 4, En: 2, Ag: 4, Lu: 2

Skills: Zio, Dia

Neira Irzaii, Priestess

Persona: Semele, Level 1

St: 1, Ma: 3, En: 2, Ag: 2, Lu: 2

Skills: Agi, Dia, Enradi


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: So the first dungeon begins now! I am trying my hardest to structure this like the games, so please bear with me while I go through this trial. I will definitely get better at this as the story progresses.

Disclaimer: I do not own Atlus, Shin Megami, Persona, The Velvet Room, Igor, or any other involved themes. All original characters are mine.

Warnings: Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Het, Yaoi, Yuri

Chapter 3: The Tower

Apollo sent a lightning bolt, stunning an amorphous Shadow. Leu nodded to Neira, who gave it a sound hit with her staff.

"Haa… there are a lot more Shadows here than last time." Leu said, panting slightly. He turned around and kicked another Shadow in its head.

"Semele!" Neira said as she summoned her persona. The motherly-looking woman set the shadow ablaze, killing it.

"So, how many floors do you think we need to climb?" Leu asked, Pausing to take a small breather.

"I dunno. This place is way too confusing for me. There are all of these strange Shadows, so many floors… It's very easy to get lost in here…" Neira said, panting a little.

"I don't think we can keep going for much longer though…" Leu said, "But do you really think your friends can survive this brutal place much longer?"

"I don't know… how can we tell? This entire situation is hopeless…" Neira lamented. A Shadow lunged out of nowhere at Neira, but before anyone could react, an armoured woman swung her shield and sent the shadow flying.

"Hi there Neira." A voice called out. A young woman walked down a staircase holding a large hammer in her hand.

"Mina!" Neira said happily, "You're alive!"

"You are too!" The woman responded, "And who's the kid over there?"

"Oh, that's Leukos, he's the guy I was talking about."

"Hi there." Leukos said to the woman.

"So you're the wonder kid huh?" She said cheerfully, "I'm Mina Takenata, nice to meetcha."

"Yeah," Leu said, "Where are the others?"

"Oh yeah, we all found a small base that we can stay inside this hell tower, so we've been staying there for now." Mina said.

"So they're safe?" Neira asked, relief apparent in her voice.

"Yeah, for now." Mina said, "The only problem is that the Shadows keep on attacking, and it is definitely taking a toll on us. I'd say that in another two weeks or they'll die, especially since there's only two there right now."

"Two weeks?" Leu asked, "You mean we have two weeks to climb the tower and save them?"

"At any rate, I don't think we can continue today, we should head back." Mina said, heading down the stairs.

Back in the entrance room, Leu noticed another door that wasn't there before. He felt like he had seen it before somewhere, but he couldn't explain.

"What is that door?" Leu asked the two.

"What door?" Neira responded, clearly not able to see it.

Leu looked at her strangely and opened it, about to say "this door."

……

…………..

……………………

Leukos opened his eyes and he was back in the Velvet Room.

"Ah, you have returned." Igor said, smiling.

"Welcome back." The Youngman behind him said politely.

"Oh, let me introduce to you my assistant, Frederick," Igor said, motioning to the young man, "Now then, you seem to have quite a trial in front of you. Do not worry though, I am certain that your power will be of great assistance."

"My power? But my friends have it too." Leu said, confused.

"Ah, but your power is special," Igor said, "Besides your current Persona, you can wield many more. You hold the power of the wild card within you. It has infinite forms, and yet is bound by none. My function here is to fuse your Personas together to make even more powerful Personas. However, I am unable to fuse Apollo… Forgive me."

"I think I understand…" Leu said.

"It may take some time, but please, visit again." Igor said.

…

………

…………………

"Leukos? Are you okay?" Neira's voice was heard and Leukos was backing BTEIC72.

"Oh? I'm fine, sorry." Leu replied a little nervously. He quickly said goodbye to the two before departing back into his own world.

.

September 6th

Morning

Leukos walked up to the front of the school, another day. He had been busy on his spare time trying to save Neira's friends, but they had hit quite a roadblock in the dungeon.

"Hey, you seem pretty spaced out, huh?" Anne's voice shook Leukos out of his daze.

"Oh, hi Anne." Leu said, smiling a little, "What's up?"

"Let me tell you, something fucked up happened last night on the internet."

"Tell me at lunch ok?" Leukos said, rushing off to homeroom.

Lunchtime

"So what happened?"

Leu, Mike, and Anne were all sitting where they always do at lunch, listening to Anne's telling of her strange dream.

"I was online last night at like one in the morning, and my connection cut," Anne said, her voice slightly strained, "And I checked the connection, and there was this weird address, like BT something."

"BT something?" Leu asked, worry evident in his voice.

"Yeah, why?" Anne asked back, "Do you know about it?"

"Oh, no…" Leukos said, "But that's weird huh?"

"Yeah…" Cloud said, "By the way Leu, you wanna hang out for a bit after school?"

"Sorry, I'm a little busy…" Leu said, "Maybe another time though…"

"Hippolyta!" Mina's Persona swung her sword, cleaving the shadow in half. The exploration had improved, and Mina said that they were about two floors away from the others.

"We're almost there guys…" Mina said as she hit an enemy with her hammer, "Come on, lets keep going."

"I found the stairs!" Leu said, motioning the others to come to him. They progressed up, and entered a wide chamber.

"I was afraid of this fight," Mina said, "This shadow is what's keeping my friends isolated up there…"

A large shadow formed in front of them. The creature launched an attack on Leukos, who quickly leaped back.

"Apollo!" Leukos's persona erupted from him, shooting it's bow at the enemy. The enemy deflected the hit easily, "What the hell? Everyone! Pierce attacks are useless!"

"Got it! Semele!" Neira's persona lit the shadow on fire, but the shadow shrugged that off easily as well.

"See? Everything is useless…" Mina said, hitting it vainly with her hammer, "Dammit! Die already!"

The shadow roared out and sent a colossal fist at Mina, knocking her down.

"Hold on!" Neira said, summoning her persona. The robed women rose her hand and sent a glowing light to Mina, healing her injuries.

"This is going to be a problem…" Leu said, having Apollo cast a bolt of lightning with no effect.

"Leukos?" A familiar voice rung in Leu's ears as he turned around to find Anne walking up the stairs.

"Anne? What the hell are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"I… I know why… I knew about this place. I connected last night and discovered this strange world. And not only that… but, I'm here to help, ok? I don't know why you lied to me mate, but I think we have more important things to be dealing with, right?"

"Anne… alright, if you can help, do so, but please be careful, ok?" Leukos said, preparing an attack.

"I know why your attacks won't work, it shifts it weakness around… hold on… try wind attacks on the enemy!"

"Wind? We don't have—" Mina was cut off when Leukos summoned a different persona.

"Angel!" Leukos summoned an angel covered in leather, who assaulted the shadow with blades of wind. The shadow cried in pain and fell back.

"All right, its defenses are down! Attack!" Anne said to the group. They attacked viciously, and soon the enemy was vanquished.

"Haa… so… that was pretty good…" Mina said to Anne, "How did you know its weakness?"

"I'm not sure what it's called, but kinda in the same way you guys fought, I have that power…" Anne said.

"Persona?" Leukos responded.

"Whatever, anyways, I was wondering why you are here Leukos?" Anne said.

"Well, I came here on accident, but then I found out that Neira and Mina's friends are in trouble, so I had to help, you know?"

"Well, can I help? It's bad enough you lied about this, the least you can do is let me help you out, right mate?" Anne said.

"I don't see anything wrong with that, what about you two?" Leu asked the others.

"We're fine, but I think we should hurry up and check up on our friends." Neira said, rushing up the stairs.

End of Chapter

A/N: Okay, sory for the delay, I had midterms, and this was a pretty difficult one to right. Sorry if some of the writing sucks, but it will improve as the story continues.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: Ok, so since I didn't put up the stats for last chapter, here they are now.

Leukos, Fool

Equip: Leather Greaves, Gi Top, Rubber Sole, String Bracelet

Apollo, Level 6, St: 4, Ma: 6, En: 3, Ag: 7, Lu: 4

Zio, Dia, Single Shot, Sukukaja

Angel, Justice, Level 4, St: 4, Ma: 5, En: 3, Ag: 4, Lu: 3

Garu, Patra

Apsaras, Temperance, Level 4, St: 3, Ma: 5, En: 3, Ag: 5, Lu: 3

Patra, Dia

Pixie, Magician, Level 2, St: 2, Ma: 3, En: 2, Ag: 4, Lu: 2

Dia, Patra

Yoren, Emperor

Equip: Leather Whip, Heavy Coat, Plain Boots, Bell Bracelet

Triptolemus, Level 7, St: 7, Ma: 6, En: 7, Ag: 5, Lu: 4

Zio, Rakukaja, Cleave

Neira, Priestess

Equip: Bamboo Staff, Simple Blouse, Rubber Sole, Pretty Headband

Semele, Level 5, St: 3, Ma: 8, En: 4, Ag: 3, Lu: 4

Agi, Dia, Enradi, Patra

Fiore, Fortune

Equip: Short Sword, Dull Jacket, Tennis Shoes, Dark Choker

Uranus, Level 6, St: 6, Ma: 6, En: 3, Ag: 7, Lu: 3

Garu, Sukukaja, Cleave

Mina, Strength

Equip: Large Mallet, Light Cloak, Durable Boots, Bright Hair-Tie

Hippolyta, Level 5, St: 7, Ma: 4, En: 6, Ag: 4, Lu: 3

Bufu, Bash, Tarunda, Cleave

Annette, Moon

Equip: Bare Hands, Sarcastic T-Shirt, Tennis Shoes, Handmade Choker

Demeter, Level 3, St: 2, Ma: 5, En: 2, Ag: 4, Lu: 3

Analysis, Garu, Dia

Sorry for the long note, enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter 4: Magician Social Link Begins!

The group left the strange tower and returned to the main room. Their they discussed their next course of action.

"So, what now?" Neira asked the others, "We're all safe, so what? Do we just leave and never return?"

"I dunno…" Leukos said, "There are so many questions here…"

"Why does this place exist? What are these Shadows doing?" Mina asked, "And what about our power? Why does that exist? And furthermore, how is it that Leukos can use multiple Personas and we can't?"

The group fell silent, before Anne finally spoke up.

"For starters, my Persona can do so much more than decipher weaknesses. I can see this place in a different way. It is very similar to the internet itself. Only that tower seems strange… what's more, there's more than just that tower around."

"At any rate, I believe that we shouldn't just leave," Yoren spoke up, "Besides, with our power, I doubt we could leave so simply. These Shadows are causing death and mental destruction in our world, and if we are the only ones who can fight back, it should be our duty to stop them."

"Then we should have a name for us," Leu said, "We should call ourselves, uhh…"

"How about we call ourselves the Shadow Slayers?" Mina suggested.

"Lame." Anne retorted.

"It should have something to do with the internet though…" Neira suggested.

"Well, let's think of one for next time and meet here again in a week, ok?" Anne said, "We should trade our screen names to each other just in case we want to keep in touch. This would be useful if we want to explore BTE. Ah, we should also have a leader to decided when we should explore here."

"Ah, I wanna do it!" Mina said excitedly.

"I think Leukos should." Neira said, "It was his strategies that got us to where we are now, I think he can do it."

"Me? Uh… okay…" Leu said. He smiled a little before a strange voice rung in his head.

_Thou art I, and I am thou. Thou shalt receive our blessings if you choose to create a Persona of the Fool Arcanum._

"What was that?" Leu asked, shocked by the sound in his head.

"What?" Yoren asked, obviously not hearing anything.

"Ah… nothing… sorry." Leu said before noticed yet another strange door appear, "Hey, do you guys see that door?"

"Yeah, where did that come from?" Neira asked.

"Well, only one way to find out, right?" Mina responded, opening the door. The others followed and found themselves in a strange shop. The owner, a bald old man smiled at them.

"Welcome, what can I interest you in?" He said.

Leu gasped; there were weapons displayed all over the shop. Greaves, Staves, everything they needed.

"Uh… hold on please." Leu said to the old man, taken aback by the sheer amount of weaponry available, "Where did this come from?"

"Well, this is definitely a sign," Anne said, "This world is intending us to journey through it, but to what end?"

"What do you mean?" The quiet Fiore suddenly spoke, "We have weapons now, so why don't we fight? Who cares about the reason?"

"The reason?" Neira asked, looking around at the weapons on the shelves, "I wonder…"

"At any rate," Anne said, "We need to develop a plan of action. That tower isn't the only thing in this world, and I don't think the Shadows are just gonna back off easily…"

"Well, let's get out of here, ok? We'll talk in a week everyone." Leu said before leaving the shop.

September 8th

Lunchtime

Leu sat at his usual table, silently eating his sandwich while waiting for Anne and Mike. The two finally arrived with their cafeteria food and began eating as well. They talked for a moment, when a voice interrupted them.

"Hey guys, you mind if I sit here today?"

Leu looked up and saw Dan, a fellow junior in the school.

"Uh, sure, but why? Don't you usually sit with Kate and Lee?" Anne replied.

"Ah, someone else stole my seat, so I decided, fuck it, why not, right?" He smiled sitting down, "So, you're the new kid?" He said, "Nice to meet you, I'm Dan."

Leu nodded, "Nice to meet you."

"So, why did you come to a shit hole like this anyway?"

"Umm… my parents moved here for business reasons."

"Oh? Well, whatever man, anyways, welcome to hell man." He smiled cynically and continued eating. Leu nodded and blinked as a voice rung out in his head again.

_Thou art I, and I am thou. Thou shalt receive our blessings if you choose to create a Persona of the Magician Arcanum._

Leu blanked out for a moment before Mike asked him about some anime show. He snaped out of it and continued talking.

End of Chapter.

A/N: Ok, one more note this time, sorry for the massive delay, but I've returned. Hopefully I'll be more constant with my updates.


	6. Chapter 4x

Chapter 4x: A Minor Update on Appearances

A/N: Jeez the time just flies huh? Oh well, I'll update again now, this time with some visual aspects as well as a Social Link Chart, have fun then.

Leukos Noek: A new kid to the local area. He is an average height and has light blonde hair. His summer weather wear at school usually consists of a grey collared T-Shirt with blue jeans and grey sneakers. On weekends he turns more casual with a green short-sleeved shirt and jeans. He has green eyes and a pale complexion.

Yoren Kiyoue: A strange guy who looks about 18 who appeared within BTEIC72. He is tall and tanned with long, rather shaggy brown hair and dark black eyes. He is usually seen with a grey windbreaker and dark jeans with black sneakers.

Neira Irzaii: A mysterious young girl who looks to be about 15. She has long green hair usually tied back in a low ponytail and wears a light blue sleeveless shirt and shorts. She is fair skinned and has a warm gaze to her cheery blue eyes.

Fiore Karek: A mysterious young man with long disheveled brown hair. He seems to not care about temperature, as he is always wearing a blue denim jacket coupled with a maroon T-Shirt and jeans.

Mina Takenata: An enigmatic woman found in BTEIC72 along with the rest of the group, she is more open about herself with light blue hair that falls shoulder-length. She wears a tight black tank top during the summer along with form-fitting black pants.

Annette Lior: A teenager and student at Leukos's school. She holds the appearance of an outcast from the rest of the kids, with her short brown hair and glasses. She usually wears gamer t-shirts, advertising various games she's played and simple jeans, which seems to be a common trend these days.

Mike Teyr: A teenager and student at Leukos's school. He has long dark hair and tanned skin, and usually wears similar clothes to Annette, though adding some t-shirts with animals depicted on them.

Dan Warren: A very well known student at Leu's school. He has short dark hair and tends to wear a dark vest with a collared shirt and trousers. Not "popular," but definitely not an outcast.


	7. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: A New Website

A/N: Ok, charging right on ahead, poor Leu only has 2 Social Links active, so let's see what he can do, ok?

September 9th

Morning

"Ok, then class," The mathematics teacher said in a drone, drawing various geometric shapes on the smart board, "Can anyone tell me what x is?"

Leu yawned and slumped down on his desk. He really wasn't paying attention to the vacant seat that used to have Mike in it, assuming he was simply out for the day. He felt his mind drift lazily by as he was thinking about what to do after school.

After School

"So," Dan said, now deciding to eat at Leu's table every since yesterday, "Where's your friend?"

"I dunno, maybe he got sick?" Leu suggested, thoughtfully taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"Maybe." Anne commented, sipping a bottle of water.

"Are you guys always this active?" Dan said cynically.

"Oh no, sometimes we just sit and watch the wall." Anne remarked, sighing a bit, "So Leu I'm thinking about getting online later on today, wanna join me?"

"Hm?" Leu looked up, judging her expression before nodding, "Ah, sure I guess, anyways, I'm gonna head out early for History, seeya guys."

After School

Leu sat in his eighth period class, yawning as the bell rang. He was free, but what to do? Leu left the room and walked around before noticing Dan talking with some friends.

"Hey Dan, what's up?" Leu said, moving towards the group.

"Oh, hey! Nothing much," Dan said, "Oh, this is Kate and Lee."

The two girls waved to the blonde cheerfully, who waved back, "Hey."

"So, what's going on?" Dan said.

"Oh, nothing much really, just have some time to burn," Leu responded.

"Huh, really? Well, I've gotta get home fast, family problems, but hey, maybe you should join a club our something if you're bored, you know?"

Lee nodded, "Yeah, I think there's an opening on the soccer team, are you any good?"

Leu thought for a moment, "I'm not too bad, but I'm no star athelete."

"Well you'll be fine there, our team sucks." Kate said smiling wryly, "I'm a cheerleader for them, but god I can't stand them."

Leu nodded. Perhaps he will join the soccer team. Igor did mention something about Social Links, right? Before he realized where he went he found himself at the door of the gym teacher's office. He gave it a light knock and the large frame of the P.E. teacher and soccer coach opened the door.

"Yeah? What's up?" The friendly guy said.

"I'm interested in joining the soccer team, if that's alright." Leu said nervously.

"Oh yeah? Fill out this form on the table over there and hand it back, you can watch the guys play for today, ok?" He said, motioning to the door. Leu entered into the gym and watched the rather clumsy team shift around the field during practice. They were just as Kate described, and he felt himself sigh… there had better be some good coming out of this. He watched the field and noticed one member of the team sulking on the bleachers, playing a video game. Confused, he moved over to the freshman and smiled, the kid retracted in fear, or was it repulsion.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Leu said to the kid, giving a warm smile.

"What's it to you?" the kid replied hesistantly.

"Well, I'm new to the team and I was wondering why you were just sulking around here, you know?"

"None of your concern," The kid replied curtly, moving away, "You go on with your mindless athletics and leave me alone."

"Well, that's not very friendly at all, look, I'm no athlete, I only joined to try and make new friends, ok?" Leu said, sitting next to the kid.

The kid hesitated before looking back at the blonde junior. "… I'm Jesse. Jesse Hamil." He replied eventually, "But if you're looking for a friend than look somewhere else, I really would prefer not coming into direct human contact."

The kid shied away again and Leu nodded, "Nice to meet you, I'm Leukos Noek." He said warmly, "I hope to see you again during practice."

As Leu walked back to his seat he heard the familiar voice ring in his head again.

_Thou art I, and I am Thou. Thou shalt receive our blessings if you choose to create a Persona of the Hermit Arcana._

Evening

Leu sat down at his desk after returning home. He was happy to spend the time at practice working on his homework. He checked his laptop and saw His messenger flashing, Anne probably wanted to go exploring. After a moment of thought he opened the client which only had a single message, "Let's go to BTEIC72 when you're ready."

…

……..

………………….

Leu entered into the loading room, greeted by Anne and the others.

"Hey, what's the deal here?" Leu asked them curiously.

"Well, we should probably continue the exploration of that tower, since we never reached the top floor." Mina said cheerfully, holding her hammer.

"Ah, ok then, let's go." Leu said before heading through the central door.

Tower of Elements, 5th Floor

The group had fought tooth and nail with the roaming shadows in the area, training and gaining strength as they did, until they approached the spot where Fiore and Yoren were held up in for a few days.

"So," Leu said, "We should start going further up then, right?"

"I would guess," Anne replied before summoning Artemis, "But that's weird… it seems as though the Shadows only get stronger from here on up… it's almost like a completely different dungeon."

"Well, I guess that means we're going to have a good fight waiting for us, huh?" Fiore said, his sword gleaming in the azure light.

"Yes, well, we'll make this our temporary base of operations for the rest of the tower ok?" Anne said before focusing intently, "If I can get Artemis to establish a connection here, then we can transport ourselves to this floor immediately… it may take some time though."

"Well, all that we ask is that you try, ok?" Leu said calmly, "Well, shall we wait for a bit until she can get the connection?"

"Why?" Fiore retorted, "We have Shadows to kill, let's go."

Fiore dashed up the stairs ahead of the group, with sounds of battle soon following his absence.

"Fiore!" Mina called out, running after him before the others.

"Crap, you'd better catch up to those two, there's a really powerful Shadow on the 7th floor. Hurry!" Anne said, "I'll back you three up, ok?"

Leu nodded and soon the three remaining fighters ascended to the next floor.

Tower of Elements, 6th Floor

A whip crack changed the Shadow before Yoren into nothing but a wisp of smoke. He had Triptolemus at the ready to back him up with Zio spells, while Neira was hanging back from him and Leu, Semele prepared to support them.

"Apollo! Zio!" Leu called out, a shot of lightning crushing an opposing shadow. Soon Apollo was gone, replaced now with a new Persona, as per warning from Anne that the current Shadow is weak to Ice.

"Jack Frost!" Leu said before the plump snowman cheerfully appeared, crushing the Shadow in ice.

"Anne, we can't find Fiore or Mina anywhere on this floor, did they get to the next one?" Leu said out loud.

"Yes, they're on the 7th floor, hurry, the Shadow's spotted them, I'll back them up from here, but you need to get there fast!"

End of Chapter

A/N:

Leukos

Persona: Apollo, Zio, Dia, Sukukaja, Single Shot, Mazio

Jack Frost, Bufu, Sonic Punch, Dodge Fire

Angel, Garu, Patra, Hama

Ukobach, Agi, Tarunda, Evil Touch

Ara Mitama, Bash, Agi, Tarukaja

Apsaras, Dia, Patra

Yoren

Persona: Triptolemus, Zio, Rakukaja, Cleave, Dekaja

Neira

Persona: Semele, Agi, Dia, Enradi, Patra, Media

Fiore

Persona: Uranus, Garu, Cleave, Sukukaja, Magaru

Mina

Persona: Hippolyta, Bufu, Bash, Cleave, Tarunda, Skull Cracker

Anne

Persona: Artemis, Analysis, Garu, Dia, Mudo


	8. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Support Method

Tower of Elements, 7th Floor

Leu and the others arrived on the large clearing, stunned as they saw Mina and Fiore still fighting the goliath of a Shadow.

"Anne, have you Analyzed the Target?" Mina asked, running towards the creature, her hammer at the ready.

"Yes, but it's hiding its weakness from me, I'm still trying though, hold on for just a little bit longer."

Leu flanked to the left of the Shadow, grasping a mask in his hand firmly as he did. Mina's Hammer strike connected, but seemed to do little to the thing. Leu noticed that Fiore seemed to be injured, as he was hanging back for a bit. Leu crushed the mask in his hand, revealing Apollo.

"Dia!" Leu commanded which resulted in a bright light around Fiore, mending his wounds.

"Thanks, this guy's tough though, none of my attacks work against him." Fiore stated rather calmly as he got up," You'll need this, Leader," he said, summoning Uranus.

"Sukukaja!" Fiore ordered, to which a burst of green energy surrounded Leukos. He felt incredibly light on his feet now, as though he was walking on air. He moved fluidly across the battlefield, dodging the Shadow's hulking fist with ease.

"Everyone!" Anne cried out, "Slash and Wind attacks are useless! Try other attacks!"

Fiore held back, focusing on blessing everyone else with Sukukaja. Yoren knew his whip wouldn't work, so he tried an alternative.

"Triptolemus! Zio!" At his command, a bolt of lightning came down on the Shadow, which looked like it dealth some damage.

"Yoren, keep that up, it's working!" Anne said over her connection line.

"Semele! Agi!" Neira cried out, her persona sending a fire ball towards the monster. The fire spell hit and the monster was knocked over to the ground, growling angrily.

"This is our chance, let's Strike!" Neira called to Leukos. With a nod of his head the group converged on the Shadow, pounding their weapons mercilessly on the large creature. The creature struggled and fought them back, standing up now to retaliate.

"This guy's tough…" Anne commented, "But Fire attacks seem to work well."

Leukos looked around at the team and nodded. "Ok, Neira, focus your Persona to attack the Shadow, ok? Yoren, back her up with Rakukaja and Zio spells, ok? Fiore, support everyone with Sukukaja, and heal with any Medicines you might have with you. Mina, use Tarunda and Bufu spells and we'll bring this guy down, let's go!"

Leukos switched Personas and soon the impish form of Ukobach was present, his Agi spells pounding mercilessly against the Shadow. Neira followed up with Leu's attack with her own Agi spells, further injuring the large creature. The Shadow roared and pounded the ground heavily, sending the team all flying backwards. The blow was powerful indeed, but the team was still ready to fight and got back up again.

"N-Neira, everyone still alright?" Leu asked cautiously, wobbling to his feet.

"I think so…" Neira said heavily, getting up.

"Guys, the Shadow is weak, it's almost down, keep going! You're almost there, ok?" Anne said

"Right, Semele!" Neira said, rematerializing her Persona, "Media!"

A bright light bathed the entire group as their injuries were healed and their energy restored.

"Thanks, let's finish this fight!" Leu said, forming a mask in his hand, "Ukobach!"

The imp of a Persona appeared, sending a fire spell directly at the Shadow. The spell hit, sending the shadow to the ground.

"Ok, it's time to finish this!" Yoren said next to Leu. A quick nod from him signified that the time was ripe to deal the coup de grace. With a combined attack on the Shadow a mighty roar was heard and the Shadow melted away into dark strands of smoke.

The group sighed in nearly collectively as the battle was won. They were nearly all wounded and tired, and they decided to sit down for a moment and rest. Soon they heard footsteps and Anne was there with them, using her power to avoid any Shadows.

"Well, I'm glad that you guys are alright," she said happily, "But tell me, Fiore, why the hell did you run off like that?"

Fiore rolled his eyes and looked away, clearly not interested in conversation. He got up slowly and moved towards the ascending staircase. A loud protest from Anne and Neira came and Fiore stopped. It wasn't immediately evident, but he did not stop as a result of the protests, but another force was barring the staircase, unnoticeable, invisible, whatever you would call it, but it prevented entry, and the group was at an impasse.

"What do we do now?" Neira asked nervously, unsure of what to do next.

"Simple, we train, and we wait." Fiore said resolutely, sitting back down.

"We wait? For what? More cases of Apathy Syndrome?" Mina protested. She was through with inconclusive decisions and challenged the barrier with the might of her hammer. The barrier, however, held up against the brutal attacks without any sense of weakness.

"Well then, this is unfortunate…" Yoren commented sullenly, "I suggest we return home for today, what do you think Leader?"

Leu looked up and nodded dully, unsure of many things now. "Was this our purpose? Were we supposed to climb this tower just to be stopped like this?"

"Give it time, mate," Anne said reassuringly, "I'm sure something will come up, ok? Let's go home for now."

The groups descended the tower and were back to the main room. He smiled, relieved that the exploration went well, minus the roadblock. He decided to make a quick trip into the Velvet Room again, just to check up on his Personas.

Velvet Room

"Welcome back," Frederick said, smiling a polite, but strangely disconnected smile to the blonde teen.

"Thank you," Leu said, sitting down on the seat nearest to him. He looked around a bit and noted something odd about this room. There were four more unoccupied chairs around his own. Igor merely smiled at this and nodded his head, "This room changes to suit the needs of the guest we currently accommodate, be it one or many. Please understand that your future is hard to perceive fully, so this room might go through some changes during your stay."

Leu nodded, and after having Frederick record his Personas in the Compendium, he returned to the Main Room.

After they went shopping for new supplies, the groups was officially called to return home, awaiting a further exploration date. As they all left, Neira hung behind for a bit, motioning to Leukos to come closer.

"Ah, thanks for your help Leu," The green haired girl said cheerfully, "ou;ve helped me and my friends so much these past few days."

Leu smiled bashfully. "Ah, well, you've been doing a great job so far yourself Neira."

Neira smiled and nodded, "Yeah? Well, anyways, I know that we may live far away, but if you'd like to hang out sometime, uh, here's my screen name, ok?" She said, handing Leu a piece of paper. Leu nodded and waved goodbye, reminding himself to add her on his messenger when he returned.

_Thou art I, and I am Thou. Thou shalt receive our blessing when you choose to create a Persona of the Priestess Arcana._

September 10th

Lunchtime

Leu sat down on the oddly empty table, Anne his only companion.

"Where has everyone gone?" Leu asked Anne, concerned that not only has most of the table's usual visitors are absent, but there were considerably less students around the cafeteria.

"Apathy Syndrome I'm guessing," Anne said, "There's been a pretty large epidemic growing around this part of the U.S. anyways. Maybe Mike and Dan have it too."

"I doubt they do, they aren't the type of people to not care about anything…" Leu said doubtfully. Soon a teenager came rushing into the cafeteria shouting about some strange occurrence in front of the school. Leu and Anne rushed out to the front, greeted by Mike collapsed in front of the school, severely wounded. They noticed Dan nearby, trying to get help. An ambulance was soon on the scene, and Mike was carted into the automobile, heading off to the hospital. The teachers and administrators soon shepherded the kids back to their classes to resume school.

After School

Leu was walking home quickly, determined to return home and explore when he Dan approached him suddenly.

"What have you been doing online?" Dan said directly and bluntly.

"Huh?" Leu asked, dumbfounded.

"BTEIC72, What is that place?" Dan said again rather directly.

"What are you talking about?" Leu asked him, trying to discern his motive.

"I found this weird Internet connection on my laptop and I found myself there… and I found someone else there." Dan said, trailing off.

Leu sighed and looked at him, "Ok, look, I'll explain it later today, ok? Get onto BTEIC72 when you get home and we'll meet you there, ok?"

Dan looked confused, but nodded, before he left, Leu called out, reminding him to bring some kind of weapon with him.

Main Room

Leukos arrived at the room, seeing Dan now as well as the others.

"Dan, this is The Firewall," Leu said, making the name up on the spot, "We all have this strange internet connection show up on our computers, and we have decided to fight them, to protect humanity."

"Humanity?" Dan replied skeptically, "From what?"

"Shadows, and Apathy Syndrome," Anne said, following up, "We were all brought here for a reason, and now that you are here, you probably have a reason as well."

Dan looked confused, but stated that he understood.

"Well then, will you help us?" Leu asked him.

"Can I say no?" Dan retorted, "Besides, someone is lost in here, I remember seeing him here."

"Who?" Mina asked.

"Mike Teyr," Dan said, "I didn't think it was possible, but I definitely saw him here, he left through that door, and next thing I know, he's passed out in front of the school."

Leu nodded and turned to Anne. "Anne, have Artemis do a search on the area, ok? Look for Mike."

Anne nodded and soon Artemis was present in the room, After some sensing, Anne looked shocked.

"Guys, there's a new place in here… let's go."

The group entered into the misty field and was greeted by the looming form of the tower. Dan looked rather shocked to see it, but that was to be expected.

"Over here!" Anne called, running off.

Everyone followed her and saw the oddest thing. An old looking temple was there, even though it seemed mostly dilapidated.

"This old temple?" Mina asked curiously, "Where did it come from?"

"Who knows?" Neira responded.

"And Mike's in there?" Leu asked Anne, who nodded.

"Well then, let's get going." Dan said confidently.

"You? I doubt you'd stand a chance… did you even bring something to defend yourself?" Leu said skeptically.

Dan smiled and nodded, pulling out a small handgun. "See here?"

Leu looked surprised but nodded. "Ah, ok then, well, what about a Persona?"

Dan was lost.

Leu sighed. "Never mind, just don't get in our way, ok?"

End of Chapter

A/N: Well, I'm a little more constant now… that's good.

Leukos, Fool

Apollo, Zio, Dia, Sukukaja, Single Shot, Mazio

Jack Frost, Bufu, Sonic Punch, Dodge Fire

Cu Sith, Garu, Bash, Agi, Magaru, Growth 1

Valkerie, Bufu, Cleave, Mabufu

Yoren, Emperor

Triptolemus, Zio, Cleave, Rakukaja, Dekaja

Neira, Priestess

Semele, Agi, Dia, Enradi, Patra, Maragi, Media

Fiore, Fortune

Uranus, Garu, Sukukaja, Cleave, Sukunda

Mina, Strength

Hippolyta, Bufu, Bash, Tarunda, Cleave, Skull Cracker

Annette, Moon

Artemis, Analysis, Garu, Dia, Mudo

Dan, Magician


End file.
